Planned Parenthood CEO says Gen Z voted due to outrage over abortion access

GMA Thursday Nov 17,3033

President of Planned Parenthood weighs in on midterms and the abortion vote
Duration 5:05  View on Watch

Abortion rights groups claimed victory after the majority of voters in three states, California, Vermont and Michigan, passed ballot measures that protected a woman's reproductive rights while a majority of voters in Kentucky and Montana rejected a plan to restrict abortion access.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, spoke with "GMA 3" Thursday about those election results and the future of reproductive rights under a new Congress.

GMA 3: Could it have gone any better given what was on the ballot during the midterms?

ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON: Well, on the ballot in those in the midterms, certainly it was an extraordinary moment and victory, right. That when abortion is on the ballot, people vote for freedom. But we also saw it as abortion made many races across the country competitive-- governor's races, holding the Senate to [having] a pro freedom majority. You know, I think that there are many ways in which this midterm could have been a lot different.

But the fact [is] that the Dobbs decision actually made it competitive in a different way.


Planned Parenthood Action Fund Alexis McGill Johnson speaks with GMA 3 about the election results.© ABC News

GMA 3: Could is there any better outcome that you could have hoped for, given those five initiatives that I mentioned?

JOHNSON: Not with the ballot initiatives. I mean, obviously, had we won the House which was also very close, considering we would have a Senate majority and a House majority where we could codify Roe with federal legislation. And that's what the Biden administration had committed to. So we obviously still have work to do state by state. But I think really what we saw was that abortion rights voters showed up.

Gen Z voters showed up in ways that really demonstrated how outraged and frustrated they were. It was the first time they actually had the opportunity to express their outrage since the abortion decision.MORE: Abortion rights supporters win big on state ballot initiatives

GMA 3: Was there a miscalculation made by Republicans who thought there was so much talk leading up to the midterms that Democrats had made a mistake focusing on abortion rights so much? It was the economy. It was inflation. But it seemed you talk about the voters [and] about abortion rights showed up because there was a passion for it there.

Was there a miscalculation and a misjudgment by maybe Republicans thinking that abortion rights advocates and supporters were we're not going to show up the way we did?

JOHNSON: Look, I think they don't understand how people make decisions about abortion rights. The economy is made up by of people who make millions of decisions about when is the right time to pursue their education, when is the right time to go for a promotion, when is the right time to change jobs and when you have the right to control when and if you were going to become pregnant and start a family complete your family.

Those are the decisions that people understand, that abortion and the economy are actually very connected with the way people act. And so I think that it was just a false decision that people were trying to pit them against each other when voters actually understand that rights and the economy actually go hand in hand.MORE: Why Americans voted to protect abortion rights during 2022 midterms

GMA 3: And when you talk about voters and rights to health care, this is not we've said it before. This is not just a women's health issue. Men showed up to vote on these initiatives as well. And men have been affected in the six months since the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

So because Planned Parenthood provides general health care to women and men and a small percentage of what Planned Parenthood does is actually abortion care, what type of ripple effect have you seen in things like diabetes screening or general primary care appointment availability in every state, regardless of the color since that decision came out?

JOHNSON: Well, look what we've seen just over the last year, as we talked about the last time I was here. The impact when you have to send patients out of state. We've had a 550% increase in Texas patients going across the country. What that has done is it's challenged the ability [and] the availability of appointments in the state. So if you now live in Arizona or New Mexico, it means that you have to travel maybe to California or Oregon. And the way we have managed that is by engaging in telehealth just like the rest of the world.

And we were able to invest differently into things like PGP Direct, an app where you can get your birth control, [and] your STI testing. So all of that kind of reproductive care continues to be available for patients in states and in various ways. We've also seen an increase in things like vasectomies after the Dobbs decision for men. Across the board.

And so look, I think that Planned Parenthood continues to be in the community. The Dobbs decision obviously impacted [the] ability of providers to provide the care. But Planned Parenthood affiliates are still continuing to provide care and community.



Rally attendees wearing shirts and displaying signs emphasizing abortion rights as an election issue before a televised debate in Fort Pierce, Fla., on Oct. 24, 2022.

© South Florida Sun Sentinel via Getty Images

GMA 3: What do you make of what we saw in Kentucky, where they have almost a full ban on abortions there? But when you ask the voters about it, they said no to making it a part of their constitution. What does that tell you?

JOHNSON: I think it tells us what we've actually already known it. What it did was actually tell the rest of America what we've already known, that these bans are deeply unpopular. The majority of people believe that they should be making these decisions with their provider. There is no space to have a politician in the exam room with you, and consistently they continue to say that over and over again.

Whether it's a blue state or red state, purple state, you know, they continue to vote for freedom. Where I think this is going right is we will see additional states try to come back into state legislative sessions in January and introduce more restrictive bans. But they will be more cautious now because they know the voters are not with them.


A Planned Parenthood sign is held at a march in support of abortion rights on Washington Street in Phoenix, Oct. 8, 2022.© Arizona Republic via USA Today Network, 

GMA 3: You've spoken to us before and when you've been in here, you didn't sound hopeful. You talked about having tears in your eyes and cried over this plenty after the midterms. Is there a better sign of hope for you moving forward now, given what the voters decided?

JOHNSON: Well, I keep meditating on this Alice Walker quote, which is "Hope is a woman who lost her fear." And what I saw on Election Day was incredible. Hordes of women, of young people, of Gen Z voters, of folks who really just firmly believe that these decisions should be theirs and that they continue to be with us.

And they understand the connection of what happens when you lose a federal protection, when you lose a constitutional right, and how it impacts their lives [and] when some states can essentially hold you hostage and other states can keep you free. So I think abortion may have saved democracy in some way.

Cuban activists want law to protect women abused at home

HAVANA (AP) — Screams, insults and confinement: that was what Diana endured in the seven years before she ended a relationship with her boyfriend.


Though she knew there were institutions and programs in Cuba that handled cases of violence against women, she didn’t reach out to any of them. She had no faith that they could really protect her.

“It’s not just getting beaten. Violence is (also) not speaking to you, ignoring you, restricting you. It was this horrible, extreme level of control,” the 37-year-old woman, an employee at a state institution, told The Associated Press. “I don’t know why I couldn’t get out of it, flee, find a proper solution.”

Diana asked that her last name not be published because she was afraid for her safety.

In recent years, visibility of violence against women in Cuba has grown thanks in large part to social media and rising feminist activism. Yet there is no recent public data on acts of femicide, because Cuban law doesn’t recognize it as a separate crime; intead, it lumps it in with all aggravated homicides.

Authorities argue that two recently passed measures — the Family Code and a new penal code — are enough to combat the abuse, but activists want more: They are pushing Parliament and campaigning on social media for a comprehensive law that would encourage and protect women who file complaints.

“Gender-based violence is structural and systematic, and therefore, the response needs to be have the same scope, not just be stuck in family or penal law,” social media platform YoSiTeCreo ("I Do Believe You") said in an emailed response to questions from the AP. The platform emerged shortly after internet service on cellphones expanded in Cuba in 2018.

Between 1960 and 1990, the island advanced to the forefront of women’s rights: Women could get divorced when it was still restricted in surrounding Latin American and Caribbean countries across the region; they shared parental rights of their children; and they were included in higher education and the labor market following the 1959 revolution. They were also given pay equal to men and were granted a full year of maternity leave. In 1961, abortions were made legal and provided for free.

But violence against women stayed hidden, even as women’s movements in countries across the region advanced measures to fight and punish it.

Today, statistics on violence against women in Cuba are scarce and outdated. The government still cites data from it’s 2016 National Gender Survey, released in 2019. It shows that 26.6% of the island's 5 million women were victims of some kind of abuse by their partners, while only 3.7% sought help.

Meanwhile, the death of women at the hands of their partners reached nearly 1 in every 100,000 women at the time, about 50 deaths per year.

Related video: Visibility for gender violence in Cuba
Duration 1:41  View on Watch

YoSiTeCreo says it counted 32 femicides in 2020, 35 last year and 32 so far this year, including two “vicarious” homicides: attacks against others — usually children — carried out to hurt the woman.

In the first years of the revolution, domestic abuse was a taboo subject for many Cuban leaders. They considered it counterproductive to the image of the new society they were trying to build that was focused on social justice.

But in recent years it’s grown more visible. The government and the officially recognized organization Women’s Federation of Cuba have taken steps to combat violence against women, creating more than 150 care centers with specialized counseling, legal services for victims and a hotline. In March 2021, the National Program for the Advancement of Women was launched, a sort of official roadmap to empower and promote women’s leadership.

But Diana and other women who spoke with the AP expressed their doubts about the scope of these initiatives. Some said there’s still no public policy to effectively care for victims.

“The distrust that women have in Cuba is related to the police’s own actions," said activist and entrepreneur Deyni Terry. "When they file a complaint, they don’t get the protection they need. Many are revictimized.”

Sometimes, uniformed officers either refuse to report the violence or call the abuser to confront or testify against the woman, she said.

Officers often say they don’t believe the women, and when women are finally able to make an official report, they have no other choice than to return with their children to the home where the abuser still lives.

Diana is one of those who never filed a report.

Asked why she didn’t ask for a restraining order against her ex-partner, she replied, nearly in tears, “And that works here? I thought about that solution. But where does the person (the victim) end up … when she has nowhere to live?"

For activists, the solution is a comprehensive law that takes into consideration prevention, punishment and the real care of victims. In November 2019, dozens of women asked the Cuban Parliament to form a commission that would receive citizen proposals and draft such a measure. The parliament rejected the request.

In September, the country ratified its new family code and, in December, the new penal code will take effect. Both focus more intently on violence against women than their predecessors did.

Under the Family Code, people with a violent history will have limited communication with their children, cannot be guardians or adopt, and may lose property in case of divorce or widowhood, among other sanctions.

Meanwhile, the penal code establishes that any crime that has gender violence as an aggravating factor will receive heightened sentences.

“It’s not enough to say that we dislike violence, that we repudiate violence ... if, afterward, there’s no effective consequence," said Ana María Álvarez-Tabío, a lawyer and professor at the University of Havana Law School. "That was what (in the old code) did not happen.”

Álvarez-Tabío said the new laws are good measures to have in place to combat the problem in the meantime, but she added, “It would be no small thing to have a general law against gender violence."

Andrea Rodriguez, The Associated Press

Victims call Italy Church's abuse report 'shamefully' limited
Story by By Philip Pullella • Thursday Nov 17,2022

Abuse victim group members hold flash mob calling for investigation into Italian church

© Thomson Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Italy's Catholic Church on Thursday released its first report on alleged sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable individuals but victims' advocates said the number of cases was likely much higher and denounced its limited scope as shameful.

The 41-page report, the first of two, covers only 2020-21. A second, promised report will cover abuse going back to 2000, although it is not clear when that will be released.

Victims have called for a thorough outside investigation going back many decades, such as those in France and Germany.

The report on 2020-21, which covers cases reported during those years but not necessarily taking place in that time, was done by a Catholic university in northern Italy. It said 89 people presumably had been abused by 68 alleged abusers, including priests as well as lay people such as church workers and religion teachers.

The data stemmed from "listening centres" in dioceses and is limited to information from those who came forward. About 53 percent of the alleged cases were recent and the others took place in the past, although the report did not specify when.

"This is absolutely unsatisfactory and shameful," said Francesco Zanardi, 51, head of Rete l'Abuso (The Abuse Network), which has one of the largest digital archives on clerical sexual abuse in Italy.

"It was already shameful that the (second study) would cover only cases from 2000 onwards," he told Reuters from his home in northern Italy.

Still, Zanardi said the report's numbers were significantly higher than he expected.

"If these numbers are correct, they are already high, but the real numbers are higher," he said. Extrapolating on statistics in the report, the number of victims in the last 22 years would be at least 2,000, he said.

Church leaders presenting the report at a news conference defended it.

"It is just a start," said Archbishop Lorenzo Ghizzoni, adding that he expected more victims to step forward as the reporting system involved and became more victim friendly.

He said the Italian Church wanted to make it easier for victims to come forward, including locating the "listening centres" outside Church buildings that could be intimidating, and having them staffed by lay people, particularly women.

Father Gianluca Marchetti, a abuse expert from northern Italy, told the new conference that the listening centres did not intend to discourage victims from going directly to civil authorities and encouraged them to do so.

Victims groups in Italy have expressed frustration with the Church for years. They have called for an overarching independent investigation going back to at least part of the past century, when much of the abuse took place in the post-World War Two period.

Zanardi was abused by a priest before 2000, meaning his case would not figure in the next report. His group says Church authorities either failed to intervene, covered up, or acted too late to stop abuse from being repeated.

The worldwide sexual abuse crisis has done massive damage to the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church and cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements, with some dioceses in other countries declaring bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism, new study shows

Story by Meron Moges-Gerbi • CNN Thursday Nov 17,2022


Agrowing percentage of Indigenous and Black parents in the United States reported that their children have faced racist experiences, according to a study published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine.

The study looked at parental reporting of racist experiences their children faced between 2016 and 2020. Data came from the National Survey of Children’s Health, a nationally representative survey directed by groups within the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The researchers, led by Dr. Micah Hartwell at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, and Amy Hendrix-Dicken of the University of Oklahoma (Tulsa) School of Community Medicine, concluded there was an increase in reported racial incidents experienced by minority children from roughly 6.7% in 2016 to 9.3% by 2020.

By comparison, 1% of parents of White children reported their kids had faced discrimination in 2016, and that increased to 1.7% in 2020.

Structural racism is taking a toll on children’s mental health

Indigenous children experienced discrimination at rates ranging from 10.8% in 2016 to 15.7% in 2020, and Black children ranging from 9.69% in 2018 to 15.04% in 2020, according to the report.

Related video: African students call out racist immigration system in Canada

Duration 2:49  View on Watch

Hendrix-Dicken says the findings are significant because exposure to discrimination in early childhood can have long-term consequences on health.

“Our study underlines the need for clinicians to expand their anti-racism resources and also highlights the role culturally competent health care can play in lessening the effects of adverse childhood experiences with racism,” said Hendrix-Dicken in a news release.

“As an Indigenous person myself, perhaps the most personally significant and surprising finding is the rate at which Indigenous children are experiencing discrimination,” added Hendrix-Dicken.

In a phone interview with CNN, Hartwell outlined strategies to mitigate the root cause of the findings.

“There is a ton of stuff minority communities have done if that was better represented within our education and childcare and just overall knowledge of coverage, that would provide a more equal context,” Hartwell said.

“Understanding cultural context, historical trauma and providing mental health services from a culturally informed perspective is the best thing the medical community can do,” added Hartwell who is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

Covenant Elenwo, a medical student who worked on the study with Hartwell told CNN, “When looking at some of the historical trauma that has come with being Black and Indigenous, we must understand some of the trauma has not been dealt with even now in 2022.”

Tunisia's milk shortage leaves farmers poor and the public angry

Story by By Tarek Amara and Jihed Abidellaoui • Thursday Nov 17,2022

Tunisian dairy farmer Maher Gizmir milks his cows at his farm in Kalaat Al Andalous© Thomson Reuters

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian dairy farmer Maher Gizmir has sold nearly half his cows this year and reduced his daily output by 85%, adding to a shortage of milk around the country as a cash-strapped government wrestles with inflation.


Cows are pictured at a farm in Kalaat Al Andalous© Thomson Reuters

Like many other dairy farmers, Gizmir says he can no longer afford to produce milk at the state-mandated purchase price given his rising outlay on fodder and other goods and services.

Tunisia, eager to keep prices down for ordinary citizens but also bound by promises to reduce subsidies as it seeks a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, has few options.

Its inability to resolve the problem has left farmers poorer and consumers fuming, adding to a sense of economic breakdown and government mismanagement in a country where frustration over politics is already simmering.



Tunisian dairy farmer Maher Gizmir pours milk at his farm in Kalaat Al Andalous© Thomson Reuters

"We want water and fodder at low prices and we want the government to raise the price of milk to cover costs. Otherwise I'll leave this profession and sell my cows," said Gizmir, 40, who inherited his farm northwest of Tunis from his father.



A woman shops at a supermarket in Tunis© Thomson Reuters

Economic frustrations in Tunisia played into the 2011 revolution that brought democracy - and into apparent support for President Kais Saied last year when he shut down parliament and adopted broad powers in moves his foes called a coup.

This year other major goods have also periodically disappeared or been rationed in shops, including bread, cooking oil, bottled water, petrol and some medicines.

"I've been looking for milk for my child for three days and found none. It's unbearable," said Arij, a woman shopping in the Omran district of Tunis who asked not to be named because she was criticising the president.

Related video: Yemeni farmers cultivate wheat amid import issues

Duration 1:31

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"Saied and his government have neglected the people and left us to face our fate," she added.

Farmers sell their milk to wholesalers at a state-set price of 1.1 dinars ($0.35) per litre. The retail price for consumers is capped at 1.35 dinars a litre.

At Gizmir's farm, black and white cows shelter under a wooden roof in a concrete shed.

"A year ago I had 22 cows. Now I only have 12. I sold 10 because I could not cover my costs. I struggle every day and my debts are up to 15,000 dinars," said Gizmir, the farmer, adding he spends 100 dinars a day on fodder to produce 50 litres of milk that he sells for 55 dinars.

His output has dropped in two years from 700 litres a day to 100 litres a day, he said, and he believes the cows he sold were smuggled by their buyer into neighbouring, oil-rich Algeria.

Milk wholesaler Mabrouk Lakhal in the town of Kalaat Al Andalous near Gizmir's farm said he heard every day from farmers selling their herds. "We used to collect 40,000 litres a day and now we collect only 12,000 litres a day," he said.

'SOCIAL EXPLOSION'

Since seizing most powers last year, President Saied has mostly avoided discussing economics, leaving the details of Tunisia's talks with the IMF to a government he has appointed and publicly blaming hoarders and speculators for shortages.

However, opposition parties and Tunisia's powerful labour union have warned of a "social explosion" if the government makes further cuts to public spending amid a cost of living crisis that has followed years of economic problems.

Fodder prices rose globally after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a major agricultural producer, as did energy and water costs after Tunisia reduced subsidies for both since last year to ease a crisis in public finances and assuage foreign lenders.

A drought has also reduced water supply, adding to farmers' problems.

The prime minister's office and agriculture ministry declined to comment. Last week Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hamza said the problem of milk shortages would soon be resolved, without giving details.

FURIOUS PUBLIC

This month Tunisia signed a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $1.9 billion bailout in return for promised spending cuts including on subsidies and the government may need to enact further energy price rises to finalise the deal.

In desperate need of budget support to avoid a debt default that ratings agencies have said may happen next year, the government may struggle to subsidise dairy producers as many of them now demand.

Also facing a furious public, with rapidly growing numbers quitting Tunisia entirely by emigrating illegally to Italy, it is loathe to help farmers by raising prices for consumers and adding to an inflation rate that was 9.2% in October.

"The state seeks to avoid a deeper social crisis and avoid any concerns by increasing the price of milk. But it risks a collapse in the dairy system that contributes to food security and provides thousands of jobs," said Anis Kharbach, deputy head of the Agriculture Union.

($1 = 3.1412 Tunisian dinars)

(Reporting by Tarek Amara and Jihed Abidellaoui, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Construction completed on Nigeria's $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port

Story by Tom Page • Thursday

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, has a storage problem. At the West African trade hub’s shipping terminals, projected demand for container space far outstrips capacity. To narrow the gap, the state has embarked on one of the region’s most ambitious infrastructure projects, Lekki Deep Sea Port.

Construction of the $1.5 billion port, located east of Lagos city, was recently completed, designed to handle the equivalent of 2.7 million 20-foot-long container units a year.

With a 1.2 kilometer quay, the 90-hectare site becomes the largest port in Nigeria, significantly expanding the country’s ability to process imports and exports.


Construction completed on Nigeria's $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port© Provided by CNNLekki Deep Sea Port under construction in November 2021. - Xinhua/Shutterstock

The port arrives at an important time for Nigeria’s economic outlook. According to the African Development Bank Group, the country’s economy is projected to grow at a decelerated rate of 3.2% in 2022-2024, while the oil sector has contracted amid low production and inflation is close to 17%.


Lekki Port is expected to create nearly 170,000 jobs, according to its developers, and generate $360 billion over the next 45 years, per the Ministry of Transportation.

It is located close to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which is currently under construction, and when completed will be capable of processing 650,000 barrels of oil per day. Both the port and refinery sit inside Lekki Free Zone, a 16,500-hectare free trade area, the masterplan for which also contains a proposed airport, a start-up community, and commercial and residential areas.

The port, the refinery and the trade zone are among the biggest infrastructure projects in the continent. Look through the gallery above to see more of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

In Seattle, an Iranian protests in a way banned back home - through dance

Story by By Matt McKnight and Daniel Trotta • Thursday, Nov 17,2022

In U.S., Iranians protest in ways banned back home - through dance© Thomson Reuters

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hair uncovered and hands painted red, Iranian-born choreographer Parmida Ziaei dances in the streets and on stage to show her support for demonstrators more than 6,000 miles (10,000 km) from her home in Seattle.

Iran has been engulfed in protests since Mahsa Amini, 22, died on Sept. 16 after she was arrested for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic's strict dress code imposed on women.

At least 344 protesters have been killed in the protests, including 52 minors, according to the rights activist HRANA news agency. It also reported 40 members of the security forces have been killed, and 15,820 people being arrested. Iranian authorities have not given any numbers on those killed or injured; they have neither denied nor confirmed HRANA reports.



In U.S., Iranians protest in ways banned back home - through dance© Thomson Reuters

At one street protest, Ziaei and two other performers, one Iranian and one American, wore red skirts and painted their hands red to symbolize the blood that has been shed.

Her choreography includes gestures that draw attention to their hair, as if to defy Iranian authorities who have decreed women must hide their hair under scarves in public.

Ziaei, who also performs solo, incorporates into her performances a pair of songs that have become anthems of the Iranian movement: "Baraye" ("For") by Shervin Hajipour, with lyrics derived from the tweets of protesters, and "Zan, Zendegi Azadi" ("Woman, Life, Freedom") by an anonymous woman demanding rights.

"Women have not been able to dance in public in Iran for the past 43 years," said Ziaei, 29, who left Iran for the United States a decade ago to attend university. "We're not allowed to perform in front of men. We're not allowed to dance with men. I can create a piece here and I don't have to ask permission from anybody. I can be naked if I wanted to, right?"

Some of the Iranian demonstrators have defiantly danced in the streets as part of the latest protests in the country.

In Seattle, Ziaei has performed her protest dances before small audiences at a dance festival, a symposium for artists of color, and a street demonstration so far. Her work also can be seen on her Instagram account, though not easily in Iran, where the internet is censored.

Her protest is one of many organized by Iranians across the United States.

The current protests in Iran are among the most forceful to confront the clerical establishment since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that overthrew the country's U.S.-backed monarch.

"We're seeing a bravery that for me as a millennial is just so incredible," Ziaei said. "These 15- or 16- year olds - Gen Z - running in front of the bullets. They don't have anything to lose anymore. They just want to have a future."

(Reporting by Matt McKnight in Seattle and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif., Editing by Donna Bryson and Deepa Babington)

Full text of Xi's written speech at APEC CEO Summit
Story by Zhang Yisheng •

A logo of APEC 2022 is pictured in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 16, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

Full text of Xi's written speech at APEC CEO Summit© Provided by XINHUA

BANGKOK, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a written speech titled "Staying Committed to and Jointly Promoting Development to Bring Asia-Pacific Cooperation to New Heights" here Thursday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.

The following is the full text of the speech:

Staying Committed to and Jointly Promoting Development to Bring Asia-Pacific Cooperation to New Heights

Written Speech by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the APEC CEO Summit

Bangkok, 17 November 2022

Representatives of the Business Community,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to come to the beautiful city of Bangkok for the APEC CEO Summit.

Our world has once again reached a crossroads. Where is it headed? What should we do here in the Asia-Pacific? These questions demand urgent answers.

The 21st century is the Asia-Pacific century. Our region, which accounts for one-third of the world's population, over 60 percent of the global economy and close to half of global trade, is the most dynamic growth belt in the world. We, members of this region, have come a long way in pursuing economic development, and we will surely write an even more brilliant chapter in the years ahead.

Currently, the Asia-Pacific enjoys overall stability. Cooperation in our region has been steadily advanced, and peace, development and win-win cooperation remain the underlying trend in this region. On the other hand, the world has entered a new period of fluidity and change. Both geopolitical tensions and the evolving economic dynamics have exerted negative impact on the development environment and cooperation structure of the Asia-Pacific. The COVID-19 pandemic keeps resurging. The global economy faces mounting downward pressure and growing risk of recession. Food, energy and debt crises are emerging together. Many countries are encountering considerable difficulties in economic and social development. Various factors of uncertainty and instability are growing. The Cold War mentality, hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism are mounting. Acts that distort international norms, disrupt economic linkages, inflate conflicts in regions, and impede development cooperation are all too common. All these pose a serious challenge to peace and development in the Asia-Pacific.

A review of the past may offer a clue to what will happen in the future. Over the past decades, Asia-Pacific economic cooperation has injected powerful impetus into the development of our region and greatly improved the wellbeing of our peoples. We should draw on the valuable past practices and remain firm in pursuing our development goals.

-- We should follow a path of peaceful development. The Asia-Pacific, once a ground of big power rivalry and a place fraught with international disputes, suffered so much from conflicts and wars. History tells us that bloc confrontation cannot solve any problem and that bias will only lead to disaster. It is precisely because the Asia-Pacific was freed from the shadow of the Cold War that this region, and particularly its small- and medium-sized economies, have been able to embark on a fast track toward modernization and create the Asia-Pacific miracle.

The Asia-Pacific is no one's backyard and should not become an arena for big power contest. No attempt to wage a new Cold War will ever be allowed by the people or by our times!

-- We should follow a path of openness and inclusiveness. Openness and inclusiveness are vital for human prosperity and advancement. Over the past decades, we economies in the Asia-Pacific have overcome market fragmentation, built closer economic linkages and embraced the world, thus opening up vast space for economic development. APEC, guided by open regionalism and the principles of diversity and non-discrimination, has become an architecture for inclusive and win-win regional cooperation. It is by acting on such a far-sighted vision that we in the Asia-Pacific have been able to seize the opportunities of economic globalization and become a forerunner of the times in pursuing regional economic integration.

Openness brings progress while closing the door can only leave one behind. Any attempt to disrupt or even dismantle the industrial and supply chains formed in the Asia-Pacific over many years will only lead Asia-Pacific economic cooperation to a dead end.

-- We should follow a path of solidarity. The Asia-Pacific miracle has been created by all of us working hand in hand and overcoming difficulties and obstacles. Over the years, we in the Asia-Pacific have stayed together as one big family. We have met challenges head-on in solidarity, defused various risks and navigated the surging tides of the global economy. Through cooperation, we have forged a sense of community, which has laid a solid foundation for steady progress.

The Asia-Pacific has entered a crucial stage of post-COVID recovery. The economies in our region are confronted with disrupted supply chains, strained food and energy supply, growing inflationary pressure and other difficulties. We should strengthen cooperation, support and help each other, and enable the Asia-Pacific to be a leader in boosting global economic recovery.

Facing these new developments, we need to draw on past experiences and lessons, respond to the challenges of the times and steadfastly advance Asia-Pacific regional economic integration, so as to jointly break new ground in development and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

First, we should bolster the foundation for peaceful development. We should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, pursue the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and jointly reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation. We need to build an Asia-Pacific security architecture to create conditions for ensuring economic development and durable peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Second, we should take a people-centered development approach. We need to ensure people's well-being through economic development, meet the needs of vulnerable groups, narrow the income gap and foster an inclusive environment for development. The developed economies in the Asia-Pacific should play a positive role and actively support the developing economies. Together, we can forge a new partnership of unity and equality, a partnership that is balanced and inclusive.

Third, we should pursue higher-level opening-up. We need to deepen cooperation within the APEC framework, advance the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific and implement the Putrajaya Vision. We need to engage fully and deeply in the reform of the World Trade Organization, achieve better alignment among the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, and build an open Asia-Pacific economy.

Fourth, we should strive for higher-standard connectivity. We should, guided by the APEC Connectivity Blueprint, boost hard and soft connectivity and exchange of personnel in a well-ordered way. China will actively enhance the complementarity between the Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategies of other parties to jointly build a high-quality Asia-Pacific connectivity network.

Fifth, we should build stable and unimpeded industrial and supply chains. We need to follow the laws governing economic activities and market principles, facilitate the free flow of production factors, protect the production and supply systems of goods and services, and build convenient, efficient and secure industrial and supply chains in the Asia-Pacific. Unilateralism and protectionism should be rejected by all; any attempt to politicize and weaponize economic and trade relations should also be rejected by all.

Sixth, we should promote economic upgrading. We need to embrace the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, accelerate scientific, technological and institutional innovation, foster new economy, new types of business and new business models, and achieve digital transformation of the Asia-Pacific economy. It is important for us to pursue green and low-carbon development, foster green economic sectors, promote green finance, and speed up the establishment of an Asia-Pacific green cooperation framework. With these efforts, we can make the Asia-Pacific a global pace-setter in pursuing economic development.

China, as a member of the Asia-Pacific, has benefited much from the region. In return, it has shared its development gains with others in the region. The Chinese economy and the Asia-Pacific economy are interdependent and deeply integrated with each other. In fact, China is now a major trading partner of many Asia-Pacific economies and an important part of the industrial and supply chains in the region. China is committed to promoting the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, and will do more to enhance the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

Not long ago, the Communist Party of China successfully convened its 20th National Congress, during which it laid out the overarching goal for China's development both at the current stage and in the years to come, and decided on the steps to be taken to this end. In particular, a call was made at the Congress to pursue Chinese modernization on all fronts.

-- To date, no more than 30 countries, with a total population of less than one billion, have achieved industrialization. Against this backdrop, the modernization of China, a country with over 1.4 billion people, will be of epoch-making importance in human history. To ensure greater success in China's economic and social development, it is critical to unleash the strength of its over 1.4 billion people. We will continue to take the people-centered approach and raise living standards. Our goal is to increase the middle-income population to more than 800 million in the next 15 years, and promote the sustained growth of our super-sized market.

-- As an ancient Chinese historian observed, "Governance is all about enriching the people." China has won the critical battle against poverty and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and it is now continuing its efforts to achieve common prosperity for all. The common prosperity we have in mind aims to better meet people's needs for a better life. It aims to achieve, over time, overall prosperity and prosperity for all. We will leverage the role of both the market and the government and ensure both performance and fairness. We will make the pie bigger and share it fairly, and build an olive-shaped structure of income distribution. I have put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) for the very purpose of addressing imbalance in development. China is working with over 100 countries and international organizations to advance the GDI and see that the deliverables promised at this year's High-level Dialogue on Global Development will reach those in need. China stands ready to provide more resources for global development cooperation and work with all other parties to build a global community of development.

-- I have often said that we should not only have towering buildings across China. More importantly, we should build a huge mansion, one of powerful inspiration, for the Chinese nation. We will keep raising people's living standards and enriching their lives, so that every family will enjoy a decent life and everyone will be imbued with a strong sense of moral integrity. We believe in equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness between different civilizations. We call upon all countries to hold dear humanity's common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. And we should overcome estrangement between civilizations with exchanges, prevent their clash with mutual learning, and overcome a false sense of superiority with coexistence. In short, we should promote human advancement along a balanced, positive and upward trajectory.

-- In pursuing Chinese modernization, we will follow a new path of maintaining harmony between humanity and nature. This is our responsibility not only for ourselves, but for the world as well. In recent years, we have, acting on the belief that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, pursued all-round green transition in economic and social development; and we have endeavored to build a Beautiful China with blue skies, green lands and clear waters.

China has set the goal of striving to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This is our solemn commitment to the international community. Over the past decade, China has been among the countries with the fastest energy intensity reduction in the world. We have overfulfilled the 2020 target of cutting carbon emission intensity by 40 to 45 percent. As a result, a total of 5.8 billion tons less of CO2 is emitted. China now has both the largest carbon market and the largest clean electric power generation system in the world. We will enhance cooperation with all other stakeholders, and advance steadily along the path of green and low-carbon transition in a concerted effort to build a community of life for humanity and nature.

-- More than anything else, we Chinese hope to see peace and stability. To follow the path of peaceful development is a strategic choice made by us in the fundamental interests of the Chinese people. We will stand firmly on the right side of history. We will stay committed to peace, development, cooperation, and delivering mutual benefit. We will strive to safeguard world peace and development as we pursue our own development, and we will make greater contribution to world peace and development through our own development.

Over the years, the Asia-Pacific business community has been an important driver fueling growth in our region. Some say that entrepreneurs are pessimists in the short term, but optimists in the long term. If one cannot foresee risk in time of prosperity, he cannot run a business well. But neither can he grow his business if he fails to see the long-term positive trend. I hope that all of you, as business leaders, will give full rein to entrepreneurship, actively involve yourselves in economic cooperation and China's reform, opening-up and modernization endeavors, and contribute to boosting development and prosperity of both the Asia-Pacific and the world.

Thank you. ■

How an innovative hive entrance could help save bees

Story by Michelle Cohan • Friday Nov 18,2022

Raina Singhvi Jain is allergic to honeybees. Just one sting on her foot once rendered her out of commission for weeks.

But that has not deterred the 20-year-old social entrepreneur from her mission to save these essential pollinators, which have been suffering from population decline for decades.

About 75% of the world’s crops depend, at least partly, on pollinators like honeybees. Their collapse could have a huge impact on our entire ecosystem. “Bees are the reason we’re all here today,” Jain says. “They’re the fundamental basis of our agricultural system, our plants. They are the reason we have food.”


Raina Jain, now 20, began working on a solution to save the bees in high school.

Jain, the daughter of Indian immigrants who settled in Connecticut, says her parents taught her to value life, no matter how small. If there was an ant in the house they would tell her to take it outside and let it live, she says.

So when Jain visited an apiary in 2018 and saw piles of dead bees, she felt an innate drive to find out what was happening. What she discovered surprised her.

Fighting parasites

“Honeybee declines are the result of the three P’s: parasites, pesticides and poor nutrition,” says Samuel Ramsey, a professor of entomology at University of Colorado Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute.


Electron microscope photo of a Varroa mite taken by Raina Jain. - Courtesy Raina Jain

Out of the three Ps, by far the biggest contributor is parasites, according to Ramsey, and specifically a type of mite called Varroa destructor. It was first detected in the US in 1987 and can now be found in almost all hives across the country.

In his research, Ramsey observed that the mites feed off the liver of the honeybees, which makes them more susceptible to the other Ps by impairing their immune system and ability to store nutrients. These parasites can also spread lethal viruses, impair flight, and can eventually lead to the collapse of an entire colony.

With encouragement from her high school science teacher, during her junior year Jain started working on a solution to get rid of Varroa mite infestations. After a lot of trial and error, she came up with HiveGuard, a 3D-printed hive entranceway that is coated with a non-toxic, plant-based pesticide called thymol.


HiveGuard is a beehive entranceway designed to kill Varroa mites.

“As bees pass through the entranceway, the thymol rubs off onto the body of the bee, where ultimately the concentration kills the varroa mites, but the honeybee is left unharmed,” Jain says.

Since March 2021, about 2,000 beekeepers have been beta testing the device, and Jain plans on an official release later this year. The data she has collected so far shows that three weeks after installation there’s a 70% decline in varroa mite infestations, with no reported side effects.

Thymol, and other naturally occurring miticides like oxalic acid, formic acid and hops, are used in current treatments in the form of strips or trays that go inside the hive. Ramsey says there are also synthetic aides, which tend to be more effective, but can be more damaging to the environment. He commends Jain’s ingenuity in creating a device that maximally impacts the mites, yet protects the bees and the environment from side effects.

An important ally

Honeybees are among the most efficient pollinators on the planet. Their contribution is vital for over 130 types of fruits, vegetables and nuts — including almonds, cranberries, zucchini and avocados. So the next time you take a bite out of an apple, or a sip of coffee, it’s thanks to the bees, Jain says.

But every year, according to Ramsey, between 33% and 51% of honeybees die across America.

The USDA estimates that honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the US alone every year. Many of these crops are pollinated by managed beekeeping services that are trucked throughout the country. As the bee populations have become more costly to protect, these services have become more expensive, with a cascade effect on consumer prices, Ramsey says.

But the most dire consequence if honeybee populations continue to decrease, is the serious threat to both food quality and security, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns.

HiveGuard is just one of the ways in which Jain is using entrepreneurial insight to support honeybees. In 2020, she founded the supplement company Queen Bee, which sells health drinks that incorporate bee products like honey and royal jelly. And for every bottle sold, a pollinator tree is planted through Trees for the Future, a non-profit working with farming families in sub-Saharan Africa.

“My biggest hope for the environment is to restore it back to balance, and be in harmony with nature,” Jain says.

She believes it is possible, but it will take a hivemind mentality to do so. “There’s a lot that humans can learn from as a societal structure, from honeybees themselves,” she adds.

“The way that they’re able to collaborate, the way that they’re able to delegate, and how they sacrifice for the betterment of the colony.”

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Texas laws allow teachers to carry guns at school with little regulation

Story by Taylor Mooney • Thursday NOV 17 2022

School hallway© Vstock LLC/Getty Images

Watch the CBS Reports documentary "Guns in the Classroom" in the video player above, or stream the premiere on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. or 2 a.m. ET on the free CBS News app.

Since January, 50 people have been killed and 122 injured in at least 152 incidents of gunfire on school grounds across the U.S. To respond to the threat of such attacks, some districts — in at least 29 states that allow it — have taken the controversial step of authorizing school staff, other than security guards, to carry firearms on campus. Texas is one of those states

In the aftermath of the shooting in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two teachers, Texas Republicans have urged schools to arm up and "harden the target." But Texas state laws regulating armed staff are sparing, allowing school districts to decide for themselves the type, and amount, of training school staff need to carry guns on campus.

"I feel like as educators and coaches, we have an obligation to protect … other parents' kids while they're in our custody," said Garret Avalos, a teacher in Rankin, Texas, who is authorized to carry a gun on his school's campus. "So it's a no-brainer for me."

According to the Texas Association of School Boards, "school districts can grant written permission for anyone, including designated employees, to carry firearms on campus" under Texas Penal Code 46.03, but the law does not lay out standards for training. The only thing a school employee needs in order to carry a firearm on campus is a license to carry, which requires a background check and a proficiency demonstration. Otherwise, individual districts determine the amount and type of additional requirements, which can include active-shooter training courses and psychological evaluations.

These plans are colloquially known as "guardian plans." In 2007, the Harrold Independent School District in Harrold, Texas, reportedly became the first in the state to adopt a plan that resembles what's now known as a guardian plan. A Texas School Safety Center audit found that as of 2020, 280 school districts out of 1,022 have adopted some version of one.

Jeff Sellers is the owner of Schools On Target, which offers firearm instruction to school staff through his Texas School Guardian Program. He told CBS Reports that for his program, he requires his trainees to shoot with 90% accuracy and register 40 hours of training before he will pass them, and he also requires the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a psychological evaluation commonly used to assess candidates for law enforcement. After course completion, he then works with the school's administrators to help them approve guardians.

Sellers says legally, teachers can be armed in schools without any training if that's what the district decides. But he says the schools he works with try their best to institute comprehensive requirements.

"We're working with educators," said Sellers. "Our clients are very intelligent people. They have boards that hold them accountable."

Despite these efforts to arm teachers, Sonali Rajan, a school violence researcher at Teachers College, Columbia University, says there's no evidence that it makes schools safer.

"There is no science available at the moment, absolutely none, that shows that arming teachers would either deter gun violence from happening to begin with, nor would it deter or reduce the lethality of a shooting once it was occurring," said Rajan. "There is evidence that shows very clearly and very definitively that the increased presence of firearms leads to increased firearm violence and firearm related harms."

Two weeks after the Uvalde shooting, the Texas American Federation of Teachers conducted a survey of 5,100 Texans, 4,673 being school employees. Of all respondents, 76% said they "do not want to be armed or expected to intercept a gunman."

But Sellers believes there's no choice.

"No gun control law is going to prevent an evil person from committing an evil act," he said. "If they don't have guns, they're going to use knives, they're going to use explosives, they're going to use a vehicle through a building. You're not going to stop evil from committing evil."